Skipping or jumping ropes have been known for centuries and constitute both a children's activity plaything and a serious device for promoting health and fitness. The exercise of “skipping” (also known as “jumping rope”) is one which can have substantial beneficial effects. It is particularly practiced by boxers in order to build up muscle strength and tone as well as sharpening reactions.
Conventional skipping ropes consist of a length of flexible material such as rope or a plastics substitute for rope with a handle at each end.
Generally speaking, the handle is an elongate member which, if held up by the rope, extends vertically. While not absolutely necessary, most skipping ropes enable the rope to swivel about the elongate axis of the handle in order that, as the loop of rope is turned around the body of the person skipping during that activity, it does not undergo twisting.
The conventional disposition of handles and swivel mechanisms is not ideal, particularly for serious skipping, for a number of reasons:
First the holding position of the handles is somewhat awkward; with the handles held extending across the palm of the hand, and held against that by the curled fingers and the thumb, in order to position the handle horizontally and with the end from which the rope extends remote from the skipper's body, the arms must be turned outwards around their longitudinal axis, i.e. each hand must be supinated, in anatomical terms, such that the thumb is turned away from the body. This is not particularly comfortable, compared with the relaxed position of the hands when the arms are simply allowed to hang at a person's sides, where the palms face inwards. This relaxed position, or “rest” position is, in anatomical terms, between the pronated position and supinated position. The rest position is characterized by the palms of each hand each facing inwards towards the body, with the thumbs being on the front side of the body.
Secondly, the swivel mechanism introduces friction and drag which, at high skipping speeds, can be substantial.
Also, at high skipping speeds it is easy for the handle to slip axially within the hand, or even, due to the high pull from the rotating rope, slip out from the hand entirely. If slippage is compensated by the skipper attempting to shift the handle inwards, this can easily lead to the handle being moved so far in that the rotating rope then starts to chafe at the knuckles of the thumb and first finger, which is naturally undesirable. Minimizing or preventing slippage with such a handle is not easy, and often requires the user to clench the grip more tightly.
An approach to address these concerns about conventional skipping ropes is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/774,376, filed 31 Jan. 2001, which discloses a skipping rope characterized by having a handle at each end which consists of an elongate portion attached to one end of the rope and a portion transverse thereto at its outer end. This provides a type of “T-bar” handle, with much improved grip.
When using such a skipping rope, the transverse portion can be held easily effectively in the palm of the hand with the elongate portion extending between two fingers. This gives a much more comfortable skipping position as well as a considerably more slip-proof one, even if the hand becomes sweaty. The transverse portion of the handle nestles within the curled up fingers (which are naturally characteristic of the hand at rest) while the elongate portion extends between two of the fingers. When held in the center of the hand, the elongate portion would pass between the second (middle) and third (ring) fingers. The effective grip, e.g. the ability to retain the handle and to resist the rope attempting to escape the user's grip is much stronger, and the distribution of forces is better configured with the base of the fingers taking the strain rather than the forefinger and thumb doing so (as is the case in an ordinary handle which must be firmly gripped by the thumb and forefinger); thus, clenching is not needed, in contrast to the clenching often needed by the user of a conventional handle. This can be of particular importance if the skipper does not have a strong grip, for example due to arthritis, injury or even deformity in the hand or hands. The position is much more secure, being more in the nature of a mechanical interlock than a friction grip. The hands are also held at the sides without twisting the arms, i.e. with the backs (a.k.a. dorsal sides) of the hands facing outwards on opposite sides of the skipper's body; in anatomical terms, it may be said that the hands are held at the sides without requiring supination of the wrist, hand, or arm.
As mentioned above, and as particularly noticed in and disclosed in the aforementioned application Ser. No. 09/774,376, from which the present application is a continuation-in-part, it was found desirable for the elongate portion to extend between two of the fingers, and the transverse portion of the handle to be symmetric with respect to the position of the elongate portion. While such a configuration has many advantages, particularly (but not exclusively) when it is held so that the elongate portion passes between the second (middle) and third (ring) fingers, when the handle is held such that the elongate portion passes between the first (a.k.a. index) and second (a.k.a. middle) fingers the transverse portion is substantially, if not completely, in contact only with the index and middle fingers. Moreover, if that same handle is held such that the elongate portion passes between the third (a.k.a. ring) finger and fourth (a.k.a. little) finger, the transverse portion is substantially, if not completely, in contact only with the ring finger and the little finger. Thus, when the elongate portion of the handle is between the ring and little finger, or between the index finger and middle finger, the user of the handle disclosed in the parent application does not feel the transverse portion across all the fingers of his hand and may subjectively experience this as an uncomfortable feeling and/or a less-than-optimal grip; such a user may prefer feeling a handle with the transverse portion sized so as to be felt across all the fingers of his or her hand. (It should be understood that, with the handle of the above-cited parent application, such a feeling may be provided, if at all, only when the elongate portion is held between the second (middle) and third (ring) fingers of the hand.)